Nestlé To Bottle Water In Drought-Plagued Phoenix

Nestlé is opening a new water-bottling plant in Phoenix, the capital of a state the U.S. Drought Monitor says is almost universally plagued by drought conditions.

“Drought? Desert? Water? The pure dissonance provoked understandable controversy among the sand-lubbers who make up one of the top three U.S. markets in per capita water-bottle-swigging,” Bloomberg reported.

“The Nestlé Waters North America facility slated for western Phoenix is nearing fruition amid a series of higher-pitched battles the company has faced elsewhere,” the report said.

These battles include lawsuits against the federal government over Nestlé’s water-bottling efforts, a vote in an Oregon city blocking a Nestlé facility, and vocal opposition in a Pennsylvania town that prompted Nestlé to back out of the area, Bloomberg reported.

Phoenix residents aired similar concern at a meeting held by the city water services department.

“The event pitted a passionate and knowledgeable city water wonk against a crowd of about 50 people ranging in temperament from screechy idealist to respectful skeptic. Tempers flared, with ample interruptions, but the picture presented was counterintuitive: a desert city with water to spare,” the report said.

Nestlé backers say the company is not taking much water from the region.

“The Nestlé plant would use about 35 million gallons (or 264 million half-liter bottles) when it opens in the spring, or about 0.037 percent of the volume that comes out of the city's plants and wells. So with that kind of math, and all the demand for bottled water among thirsty Phoenicians, it looks like there's plenty to go around — even enough for Nestlé to pour out of the tap, bottle, and sell for a few bucks,” the report said.

With some locals, that argument is not resonating.

“The sheer optics of a water-bottling facility in Phoenix touched off a local debate about how America's sixth-biggest city will be able to continue quenching its thirst,” the report said.

“Back in May, college student Sabrina Reed started a change.org petition to protest the plant, calling the move ‘irresponsible and unsustainable,’ considering the state of Arizona has been in a drought since 1999. At the time of writing, the petition had garnered just over 44,000 signatures,” The Weather Network reported last week.

Nestlé emphasizes the importance of water, in general, when defending its bottled water business.

"Water is essential and if people weren't drinking our bottled water, they'd be drinking tap water or soda or beer," one official previously said, per CNBC.

The company says it is dedicated to “responsible water management.”

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